Microsoft Offers Second Release Candidate for Windows XP SP2

Microsoft late on Monday provided testers with the much-anticipated second release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 2. The timing of the final release is still up in the air.

Microsoft on Monday afternoon released the much-anticipated second release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 2. But the Redmond, Wash., software firm was mum about the timing of its final release.
At the same time, a Microsoft Corp. spokesman told eWEEK that he was unable to give a specific date for the final release of SP2 as this "will depend on the customer feedback received during the continued testing."
Until Monday, Microsoft officials had held fast to the companys claim from the spring that the final XP SP2 release would ship in late July. They have also said they are not sure whether they will issue an RC3 beta, which could push the final release date beyond July.

The spokesman reiterated that line Monday, saying it was "again, too soon to say" if there would be a need for a third release candidate.

Microsoft has also pushed back the release of RC2 by several weeks. Earlier this year, the company said to expect it in May.
The Windows enthusiast site NeoWin.net reported at the end of May that Microsoft discovered a last-minute bug in the NX (no execute) support that will be part of SP2, and consequently decided to delay the service pack. Microsoft would not comment on NeoWins report.
Some testers have also speculated that Microsoft unearthed new application-compatibility problems that caused it to delay the RC2 release, but this could not be confirmed.

But the spokesman did say that todays release of RC2 indicates that "Windows XP SP2 is entering its final testing stages on its way toward a final release this summer."
According to insiders familiar with the pack, RC2 is Build No. 2149 and is currently available only to beta testers registered with Microsofts Windows Beta site. Microsoft is expected to offer RC2 to an open pool of technical testers shortly. When available for wider distribution, the preview code will be offered for download here.
Although Microsoft has deemed Windows XP SP2 a service pack, the product is a new version of Windows that will contain a number of features and fixes. With SP2, Microsoft is turning on its built-in Windows Firewall by default, adding new browser and e-mail safeguards and enhancing XPs memory-protection features, company officials have said.
The spokesman on Monday said SP2 RC2 includes advanced security technologies and is "another key milestone in the development of SP2 and is intended to give software and hardware developers and IT professionals the opportunity to continue testing in preparation for deployment and to allow Microsoft to collect additional customer feedback."
A listing of features in Windows XP Service Pack 2 Release Candidate 2 is available on Microsofts press resources site. Click here to read more.
So far, hundreds of thousands of developers and customers have tested beta and release candidate versions of Windows XP SP2. Microsoft strongly encourages developers and corporate IT customers to continue their testing by downloading Windows XP SP2 RC2, the spokesman said.
The updates and enhancements in Windows XP SP2 focus on three main areas of security, the spokesman said. First will be stronger security settings, with Windows XP SP2 establishing stronger default security settings. The update also will provide new features and tools designed to help customers better defend their systems and information from hackers, viruses and other security threats.
The second area of focus is increased manageability and control, he said, with SP2 making it easier to configure and manage security resources, as well as providing more accessible and intuitive security tools. The update also will introduce the new Windows Security Center control panel.
The third focus area is around improved and more secure experiences. The latest software includes updates for key drivers, support for new technologies and security updates for key features.
Check out eWEEK.coms Windows Center at http://windows.eweek.com for Microsoft and Windows news, views and analysis.

Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.

He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.

He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.

He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.

He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.

He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.

His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.

For numerous examples of his writing you can search under his name at the eWEEK Website at www.eweek.com.